World Health Day: Rapidly Rising Diabetes Closely Linked to Poverty

Diabetes test, Mauritius. Credit: Nasseem Ackbarally/IPSBy Lyndal RowlandsUNITED NATIONS, Apr 7 2016 (IPS)Diabetes, which now affects more than 400 million people worldwide, is closely linked to poverty in most regions of the world, World Health Organization Medical Officer Alessandro Demaio told IPS Thursday.Demaio, who specialises in non-communicable conditions and nutrition, said that poverty is a risk factor for diabetes across low, middle and high income countries, disproportionately affecting poorer populations, apart from the absolute poor who mostly live in low income countries.In light of the rapid increase in the disease, the WHO made diabetes the theme of this year’s World Health Day on April 7.“We’ve had an enormous increase in the prevalence of diabetes in the past 30 years,” Francesco Branca, Director of Nutrition for Health and Development at the WHO told IPS.As of 2014 there were 422 million people living with diabetes, compared to 108 million in 1980. Worryingly, Branca said that “half the people with diabetes don’t know,” particularly in developing countries where diagnoses can be limited and health services may not have the ability to do the required glucose blood tests. In some parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, said Branca, health workers have been known to mistake the symptoms of diabetes for malaria which they are more accustomed to diagnosing.The rapid increase in the prevalence of diabetes is in part due to “dramatic changes in diets around ...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: Global & Universal Authors: Tags: Development & Aid Food & Agriculture Global Geopolitics Global Governance Health Inequity Source Type: news